AN: So it's been raining really hard where I live and I got inspired. This will be either a two shot or three shot I think.
Takes place very early in the series- say, a couple days before Sir Valiant.
Shout out to Anna Davenport who helped edit this chapter :)
"I've got your lunch!"
Arthur glanced up to see his new servant, Merlin, standing in front of his desk. He didn't know why his father had to assign him such an annoyingly jubilant, yet clumsy servant, although so far the brunet hadn't proved to be particularly awful. Still, this Merlin was always bumbling about, and this endlessly annoyed Arthur.
"Put it there," Arthur waved toward the end of the desk. "I need to finish studying these maps."
"Why are you studying maps?" Merlin asked as he walked over to the desk. He sounded genuinely interested, so Arthur replied that he was searching for the most likely hiding place of the bandits which had just raided a few stores in the lower town. Arthur's father expected the prince to figure out in which direction he should send the knights on patrol.
"Judging by the coming storm from the west, they probably went east," Arthur mumbled to himself, his attention turning back to the maps. It was quiet for several moments and Arthur assumed that Merlin was probably readying himself to leave. Apparently Arthur had once again misjudged the quirky servant.
"But east is where that big river is!"
Merlin's voice came from directly over Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur jumped at least a foot out of his chair, bumping the back into Merlin. The servant had apparently decided against setting down the food, and the entire soup bowl upturned off the tray and found itself upside-down on Arthur's head, the soup dripping slowly down his face.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Merlin swallowed as Arthur shoved his chair back and stood angrily. The glare he aimed toward Merlin was not a welcoming sight, and Merlin swallowed again, backing up slightly.
"It really was an accident," Merlin gave a slight grin, which only caused Arthur to roll his eyes and shout for the guard which stood outside of his chambers. A few moments later the guard, Sir William, was in the room, his gaze shocked at the sight of a soup bowl sitting on the prince's head.
"Sir William, put this incompetent servant in the stocks until he begins to understand just how unpleasant it is to be covered in food. Oh, and my father wants you to lead a patrol out to see if the bandits are still near the outskirts of Camelot. Try traveling to the west. When you're done, you're to report to the king."
"Yes Sire," Sir William bowed and glanced at Merlin, who sighed and obediently trotted after the knight. Arthur gave a sigh and returned to studying the maps, a little confused by Merlin's good humor despite constantly being put in the stocks. He was an odd servant, no two ways about that.
A strong gust of wind rattled Arthur's window and the prince pulled his coat tighter around himself. The storm was preparing to be big, however it wasn't meant to arrive for several hours. The patrol would be back long before it started to rain.
"Oh, and Sir William," Arthur spoke up quickly just as the knight was closing the door. "Get my servant out of the stocks the minute you return."
"Yes Sire," Sir William nodded, and then he shut the door.
Sir William lead Merlin through the halls, not bothering to restrain him. He was perfectly aware that the prince's servants often ended up in the stocks for trivial things and restraining them was a formality which was completely unnecessary. Still, Sir William was surprised by this new servant's good nature.
As they walked through the halls, several other servants send him worried looks, to which Merlin simply laughed.
"Apparently soup isn't the way to cool down a hot head's temper!" Merlin told one curious servant. To another he said, "I like the stocks. When I'm in them, I don't even have to walk Arthur's monsters, I mean his dogs!"
By the time they had arrived at the town square, Sir William was convinced that Merlin had chatted to every other person in the kingdom- servant and random village person alike. Sir William unlocked the stocks and immediately Merlin hopped over to them. Sir William raised an eyebrow.
"I'm getting quite good at this," Merlin grinned. With a shrug, Sir William closed the top of the stock and locked them securely.
"I'll try not to take too long," Sir William finally spoke. Merlin only shrugged.
"Don't worry about it. If you don't get back before it starts raining, at least I won't have to take a bath to get rid of the rotten vegetable smell later!"
Sir William couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Good luck," he nodded to the cheerful servant, and then he carefully attached the keys to his belt. He'd keep them with him so that he could get the servant out as soon as he returned. Now it was time he go gather a small group of knights and search for the bandits.
As Sir William departed the gates, a group of four trailing behind him, he heard people laughing as they threw rotten vegetables at the servant. The boy's only response was to declare: "Bullseye! Ten points to the boy in front!"
The wind whistled through the trees and though at first all was calm, by the time the knights had reached the bottom of the pass the horses were growing skittish.
"I think the rain is about to turn this place into a bog. Look at those clouds; this one isn't going to be pretty."
"Yes, let's head back. The king can't fault us for staying out in the kind of whether that's approaching. At least we know the bandits aren't anywhere near Camelot. Come on, let's head back."
"Wait!" Another knight pulled his horse to a stop. "I head something."
"Come on, Pellinore, there's nothing out there."
"No, Charlie, I'm sure I head something..."
The knights hesitated, before Charlie shook his head and declared that he was ready to go home, and no creature in the forest would stop him. Slowly, the other knights relaxed and turned their horses towards Camelot. From the back, however, there was a gurgling cry, and Pellinore turned to see Charlie falling from his horse, an arrow in his back.
"For Camelot," Sir William shouted as he drew his sword, and then the small battle with the bandits began.
Merlin winced as another rotten tomato wound up in his hair, however most of the villagers here were but children, and he was aware that they didn't mean anything vicious by throwing things at him. Most of them were probably just practicing their aim. He was growing a little tired of it, though. He'd been here for at least two hours and his back was beginning to ache.
A raindrop suddenly rolled down his nose, and Merlin squinted up at the sky to see that it was virtually black. A few more raindrops dripped onto the stone and landed in his already slightly soggy hair. Great, well it looked like Sir William was leaving the rain to give him a bath.
Quite a few of the children's mothers showed up right about then and grabbed their son's and daughter's hands to pull them towards shelter. Many of the mothers sent him pitying glances before they shut tight their doors and windows. The remaining children squealed with joy and splashed in puddles before they too hurried to get inside. Merlin sighed and blinked his eyes to try to get the rainwater out of them. The rain was cold, but it almost felt refreshing. Holding open his mouth, Merlin caught a few raindrops and then shook his hair to get the vegetable skins out of it.
A gust of wind tugged at Merlin's scarf, and for a moment Merlin shivered violently. He repressed his shivering quickly, however, because there were a few little kids standing around under awnings and he certainly didn't want to make them aware that he was suddenly feeling the rapid temperature drop, despite his coat. Another gust of wind blew, and once again Merlin shivered. At least it wasn't raining that hard.
A roll of thunder echoed in the distance, causing Merlin to wince. He never did like thunder and lightning. Merlin squinted as his hair whipped around his face, and then he suddenly noticed that the little boy with the good aim from earlier was standing there.
"Hello mister," the little boy grinned shyly. "I wanted to say sorry for hittin' you in the eye earlier. I was jus' playin'. Here, you can have my hat while you stand out here. Me ma says it's going to get mighty cold."
The little boy plopped a woolen cap upon Merlin's head, to which the servant shook his head.
"I can't take your hat," Merlin laughed lightly.
"You can give it back later. Me ma works at the bakery."
"Well… Okay," Merlin nodded. "Now shouldn't you go home? Your ma is probably worrying."
"Yeah, she usually does… Well, see ya!"
The little boy ran off leaving Merlin to clench his teeth to keep them from clattering. Another roll of thunder made Merlin wince yet again and he suddenly wished that he was curled up in Gaius's chambers reading his book and complaining about Arthur. He certainly had plenty to complain about at the moment.
A howl of wind sent a flurry of raindrops toward Merlin, and then it began raining in earnest, the water coming down in bucket loads. A flash of lightning lit up the square, and Merlin began to wonder when exactly Sir William would be returning. If he didn't return soon, though, surely Arthur would come and let him out. Yes, Arthur and he had their differences, but even Arthur wouldn't abandon him to the storm, right?
Of course not Merlin told himself, and then he shut his eyes tightly against the pelting rain as he waited for salvation.
Arthur leaned against the headboard of his bed and listened as the storm outside turned from a gentle downpour to practically a typhoon. The flag which normally waved merrily in the gentle wind outside his window was now flapping madly, tearing at its seams and yanking to become captive to the wind. Arthur's insufferable servant hadn't served him dinner yet and it was growing late, so Arthur stood and stuck his head into the hallway to tell the nearest servant to get his dinner.
Arthur then stamped back into his room, his mood matching the now frequent flashes of lightning. Honestly, what was this new servant good for? He was lazy, clumsy, and couldn't even stand the thought of traveling through some rain! Admittedly the storm was growing dangerously violent and so Merlin had likely run home to take refuge with Gaius. Still, Arthur was annoyed that his servant couldn't be bothered to bring dinner first. Other servants were still roaming the halls. They hadn't turned tail and disappeared.
"Your dinner, sire," a servant knocked on Arthur's door, and Arthur retrieved the hot soup quickly. Arthur's window rattled against the wind, a chill flying down the fireplace and almost extinguishing the flames. Shivering once, Arthur decided to sit on his bed as he drank the warm soup. Finishing, Arthur snuggled under the covers to wait for the storm to pass.
Arthur didn't know what exactly had woken him; perhaps it was a particularly loud boom of thunder because Arthur's whole room was suddenly lit as bright as day as a flash of lightning was a precursor another gigantic boom.
The temperature had dropped significantly and, despite Arthur's many blankets, he felt absolutely freezing. Arthur tried to fall back asleep, yet he found it to be impossible so instead he stood and slipped into his boots. He realized with chagrin that he'd never changed out of his clothes, however now he was thankful because they were sure to provide at least a little more warmth.
Arthur stretched and stood, wondering lazily what time it was. It was pitch black outside, so it was probably late, however the storm could be making it seem darker than it really was. Arthur decided to see if anyone else was awake, and so he wandered over to his door and pulled it open. He was surprised to hear a flurry of commotion from down the hall.
Quickly, Arthur slipped out of his room and stalked down the hall to see what was the matter. He was surprised to be met with a group of servants huddled around a collapsed knight. It took him a moment before he realized it was Sir Pellinore.
"Make room," Uther's voice suddenly echoed down the hall and he bustled forward to see what had occurred. The sight of the collapsed knight made the king quickly suck in a breath.
"He stumbled inside and collapsed. We need to move him," one of the servants spoke up. "I'm afraid the weather is to bad to bring Gaius over here at this late hour."
"I can try to treat him," another servant spoke up.
Sir Pellinore was moved to a bench that sat along the wall, and the healing servant examined the knight.
"No big damage," she told the king. "He might have suffered some kind of blow to the head. We should attempt to gently wake him and ask him what happened."
Arthur watched in numb shock as the girl tried to wake Sir Pellinore, whose eyes flickered a few times before blinking open.
"What happened?" Uther immediately questioned the half conscious knight. "What happened to the rest of you?"
"The bandits… Surprise attack," the knight's voice was quiet. "The others… They didn't make it… I'm sorry your highness. I should have stayed… But the bandits made me leave… Example…"
Sir Pellinore's eyelids flickered, and Uther commanded that someone bring some something warm to eat. Arthur continued to watch in shock, until he realized that something was tugging at the back of his mind. There was a worried, bothersome feeling in his stomach as if something was wrong, beyond the fact that four knights had just died.
Arthur stood back as a cook brought Sir Pellinore some warm bread and broth. Arthur's brow creased as that unkown thought continued to tickle the back of his mind, and then a howl of wind echoed through the hall. All of a sudden, Arthur blaunched.
"Sir William," Arthur choked out. "He didn't make it?"
Sir Pellinore shook his head mutely, and Arthur stumbled backwards, turning to a random servant who was watching the proceedings.
"Has anyone seen my servant? Has anyone seen Merlin?" Arthur grabbed the jacket of the servant, who shook his head quickly.
"Not for hours, sire," the servant swallowed as Arthur let go of his jacket. Arthur asked another servant, who had a similar response.
"Father," Arthur ran up to the king. "Did anyone go get Merlin? You know, my manservant?"
"Get him? Why would they go get him?" Uther frowned at his desperate son. "What's happening?"
Arthur shook his head as he ran over to a window. The sky lit up again, though it was a bit hard to see through the sheets of rain. Arthur spun and ran toward the door, yanking it open and forcing his way outside. The strength of the wind almost blew him backwards, yet Arthur shielded his eyes and stumbled into the courtyard.
The wind howled and the rain pelted down interspersed with the occasional icy droplet of hail. Yanking his coat around himself, Arthur ran toward the town square where the stocks were. Surely someone must have seen the servant standing in the stocks and gotten him out, but Arthur had to make sure, and so he ran as fast as he could through the storm.
Finally the square came into view, and Arthur's heart dropped into his stomach.
Nothing was in its correct spot. Chairs, buckets, and stands had blown over and lay in a melee around the square, and at the edge of the square stood the stocks which, to Arthur's horror, were not empty. The stocks were bent slightly forward, but Arthur couldn't tell if that was the wind's fault or the fault of its prisoner trying to escape.
At the moment, Merlin didn't particularly look like he was trying to escape. Instead he had his eyes pressed tightly shut and he seemed to be trying to huddle into himself, although the stocks were prohibiting such a movement. He was also shivering violently, and from across the square Arthur could hear muffled whimpers carried on the screaming wind.
Despite the screaming wind, all that Arthur could register was that there stood Merlin, shivering violently as his hair whipped about in the wind and rain continued to come down in bucket loads.
AN: What do you think so far? Please review!